


Help!

by Hammocker



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Pickpockets, Pre-Movie(s), Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 09:32:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3931825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hammocker/pseuds/Hammocker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One slip and you might just be dead. This is why people have friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Help!

Kraglin tore through the empty streets of one of Threhlok's many decimated cities, keeping clear of any areas he knew could be populated. A tiny ring of some coppery substance was squeezed in his palm, not worth that much, but a commodity on this particular world. It had to be worth something to somebody as the Skrull he had pick-pocketed it from and his buddy were now chasing him down. One thing Kraglin had not counted on was his victim carrying a knife as he himself was unarmed. Fortunately, while Kraglin wasn't the strongest of the Ravagers, he sure as hell could outrun most of the crew. That was what he was best at, getting from point A to point B as fast as possible, seeing who and what was at Point B, then turning right around and getting back to Point A before Yondu got impatient. He was confident he could outrun his very angry pursuers now. If only they weren't so goddamn persistent.

He slowed to take a sharp turn into an alleyway. In the cities he'd been to, these things usually led to whole systems of ways and shortcuts. Easy to get lost in. Hopefully, they wouldn't try to follow through what could be a maze of paths or, better yet, they wouldn't even see him duck into the alley in the first place. As he ran farther, though, it became apparent that the way was nothing more than a dead end. Kraglin turned around, but the two men were already approaching, the Skrull twirling his knife with one hand. In that instant, it suddenly became crystal clear that Kraglin did not want to die on some shithole planet, in some dirty alley, still scraping by as a pirate, and without anyone to even remember him. But, neither of them looked like they were very interested in his feelings. Kraglin himself wasn't much interested in begging for his life. He could at least die with some pride in tact. So he waited for them to get close. It felt like a fuckin' eternity, glaring down the bastards until they walked just near enough. He was about to throw a punch when-

_Fwee-eet!_

A blur flew by Kraglin's face, so close that he felt a tiny breeze. Just as it disappeared, two clean holes appeared in his aggressors' chests and they collapsed in front of him. He stared down at them for a moment before looking up. Standing across from him was Yondu, gripping his arrow and wearing the best pissy scowl he could manage. Kraglin would know; he had seen Yondu make a lot of pissy scowls.

“Uh, hey, cap'n,” Kraglin said, a sheepish smile creeping onto his face.

Yondu said nothing as he sheathed the arrow and pulled his coat back over it. He stepped over the bodies and up to Kraglin before delivering a sharp slap to his right cheek.

“You scared the fuck outta me, boy!” Yondu snarled, pointing a finger at him. “I told you to scout and when you scout you...?”

“Don't bother no one,” Kraglin droned, putting a hand to his cheek. Captain sure knew how to make a man feel like a kid again.

“And what did you go and do?”

“I went and pick-pocketed some guy.”

“That's right.” Yondu held out his hand. “Hand it over now.”

Kraglin unfurled the hand that held the ring, picked it up with his other hand, and placed it carefully in Yondu's palm, hardly looking at the Centaurian all the while.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Yondu scrutinize the metallic scrap, turning it over once or twice. He didn't look very interested. In fact, he looked downright bored, maybe a little annoyed. But then, that was his normal face too so Kraglin couldn't tell if he really was either until Yondu spoke up.

“Junk,” he finally scoffed, tossing the ring aside before reaching out to grip Kraglin's chin and forcing their eyes to meet. “I know you're a dipper, boy, but don't go chasin' crap when I tell you to do somethin' useful.”

Kraglin swallowed thickly at the sudden clear view of the striking red of Yondu's eyes. “Yes, cap'n.”

“You okay now?” Yondu asked, looking Kraglin up and down. “Nothin' broken?”

“Yeah, I'm good,” Kraglin croaked, whether it was completely true or not.

“Better be,” Yondu said, releasing his hold. A smirk came upon his face. “Come on, Kraglin, 'bout time we got goin'.” He turned and started out of the alley.

“Comin', cap'n,” Kraglin said, trotting after Yondu.

Kraglin was flattered. Really and truly flattered. The captain, the leader of the Ravagers, the man who definitely had better things to do, had come to his aid. Kraglin had been with the group for long enough and if there's one thing he knew, it was that people got left behind all the time. If you were too slow, too weak, too stupid, or just too unpopular, natural selection took its course among their ranks. Rations couldn't just be wasted willy-nilly on weak links. Yet Yondu had decided that Kraglin was, for some reason, important enough to track down and save from certain death. Or, maybe severe injury and abandonment. At the very least, this was a pretty great compliment. At best, maybe Yondu liked him a little. Either way, he would definitely stick a little closer in the future. Getting on the captain's good side was never a bad thing as far as Kraglin was concerned, even if he wasn't necessarily planning to stay with the Ravagers for too long.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm dubious on whether this piece is actually any good or not. It's short and simple and I had help editing, but I'm not totally sure if I'm satisfied with its current state yet I don't really have any more ideas on how to make it better. Criticism is always welcome, especially if you think you can help make improvements.
> 
> So I kinda want to write more fics of these two because I adore them and they are canon as fuck, and I want any and all fics I write of them to have titles taken from relatively popular music from the 60s to the 80s. Original? Probably not. But I want to. Maybe I will.
> 
> Am I the only one who thinks of these two every time I listen to Ain't No Mountain High Enough?


End file.
